Jennifer Lacasse’s broken back and bruised face have reignited one neighborhood’s more-than-decade-long "crusade" to make a West Central Street intersection safer.

Last Saturday night, Lacasse, of Uxbridge, found herself on her back staring at the ceiling of Milford Regional Medical Center’s emergency room after her Jeep Patriot was T-boned at the intersection of West Central Street and Corporate Drive, located in front of the BJ's Wholesale Club.

She had just left the Conlyn Avenue home of a family friend, Wendy Jenkins, with her 8-month-old son Matthew snug in the back seat.

"She was on her way to get stuff for the baby’s Easter basket," said Jenkins, a Franklin resident for roughly 30 years.

A Pontiac Grand Am, pulling out of the BJ’s, struck Lacasse’s Jeep as she passed through the intersection. It rolled three times. The other driver was cited by the police.

"She of course panicked because the baby was in the back seat," Jenkins said, "and kicked out the passenger-side window to try to get to the baby."

Matthew was unhurt — a person driving by had stopped and pulled the child, car seat and all, from the destroyed Jeep — but Lacasse suffered three fractured vertebrae.

The accident opened old wounds for the West Central Street neighborhood of some 80 homes. For Jenkins and her husband, Gordon, though this crash hit close to home, it was not a surprise.

While jamming on their brakes and laying on their horns, they and several other Conlyn Avenue residents have been lobbying the town and the state to install a full traffic light there for years.

They’ve written letters, sent in petitions, gone to the State House, attended Planning Board and Town Council meetings and even stood about the intersection with "STOP" signs, all for naught.

Because the Massachusetts Department of Transportation owns the roadway, the town cannot install a traffic light. And MassDOT won’t act in large part because not enough traffic passes through the intersection to warrant a light.

"We’ve been fighting this battle for so long that people feel like it’s spitting into the wind," Jenkins said.

At one point, there was a regular traffic light at the intersection. Then that was reduced to blinking red and yellow traffic signals.

In 2011, the state completed a study of the intersection that showed it did not meet any of the nine federal requirements for the signals and replaced them with two stop signs, a move Conlyn Avenue tried to fight.

In an email, Sara Lavoie, a MassDOT spokeswoman, said meeting all of the nine "uniform warrants" for a traffic signal — including traffic volume, pedestrian safety and the severity and frequency of crashes — is not always necessary.

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"If a warrant is met and it is determined that the installation of a traffic signal will improve the safety and/or the traffic operations at an intersection, then the department would have justification for installing one," Lavoie wrote.

Jenkins and others say the amount of traffic has only increased since the 2011 study and will continue to do so as more business comes to the area. Worse, safety remains a chief concern, as accidents pile up.

In recent history, according to the town, there have been 22 accidents described as minor at the intersection as well as three collisions that resulted in serious injuries.

Even more telling, Jenkins said, over the years 12 people in her neighborhood have been involved in accidents at the intersection.

"It’s such a silly situation," said Lauren Chousa, one of the 12.

The same year MassDOT removed the signals, Chousa’s car, like Lacasse’s Jeep, was T-boned by another exiting Forge Park Way.

"We’re just wanting the town to come behind us and say, ‘We need this,’ " she said, referring to the signal.

What makes the intersection so dangerous? A combination of factors, residents say, including speed, carelessness and a lack of visibility.

Also, most drivers don’t realize there’s a neighborhood about 500 feet from the intersection, Jenkins said.

"People just assume we’re turning into BJ’s," she said. "And then when we go through, people throw the bird at us, honk at us and I’m like, 'Listen, people, we live there.’ "

Jenkins said that, at the very least, speed bumps would prompt people to slow down. According to Lavoie, MassDOT does not normally cover the installation of speed bumps.

"MassDOT would typically only install them to introduce traffic calming on a municipal project on a local road or minor collector," she wrote.

On Wednesday, Conlyn Avenue residents, Jenkins and Chousa included, came before the council to press for another signal. Lacasse spoke, too, detailing the extent of her injuries, wearing a black eye like a battle scar.

Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting told them that the town would inquire with MassDOT about another study. And councilors appeared stunned by the extent of Lacasse’s injuries.

"No one disagrees with the dangers (of the intersection) and the bruises on your body," Vice Chairwoman Tina Powderly told Lacasse.

Police Chief Stephan Semerjian, when asked by council Chairman Robert Vallee to speak on the intersection, agreed that it needs another "hard look."

"We need to go back and re-evaluate," Semerjian said.

Whatever the outcome this time around, Jenkins and Chousa say they will continue what they call their "crusade." The last thing they want to see is someone killed at the intersection. A death, they said, should not serve as the catalyst for change.

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"We’re not going to go away," said Jenkins.

Matt Tota can be reached at 508-634-7521 or mtota@wickedlocal.com. For Franklin and Bellingham news throughout the day, follow him on Twitter @MattTotaMDN.